Pillar of Shattered Glass
by Avret
Summary: A shard glints in the night, sparkling by the light of the moon as it tumbles to the ground. A youth stands, surrounded by flickers of light, before vanishing seemingly into thin air. For the wolf has found a new host, and the will of fire must yet wield the obsidian blades... AU, Jinchuuriki!OC. Rating may change for reasons of violence.
1. Prologue

A/N: Single quotes are mental voices, double quotes are spoken word. Bolded text is bijuu speech, italics are Madara genjutsu voice.

Prologue:

Time: Approximately 1 year after Kyuubi event.

Location: Kirigakure, Mizukage's headquarters:

The fourth Mizukage, Yagura, stands up from behind his desk and turns, pacing nervously back and forth. His best fuuinjutsu artists have just finished sealing the Rokubi into a new child, and there was now a new piece on the playing field. That type of power could upset the delicate situation he had spent years building. His eyes, once relaxed and bright, have become terrified, constantly flickering back and forth as if watching for invisible assailants. Maps and tactical diagrams line the walls of his once pristine office, each covered with hastily scribbled notes. As he whirls to face the window yet again, the voice of Isobu, the Sanbi, rings out inside his mind.

'**Stay calm, human. This all-controlling focus on paranoia ill becomes one without an obvious assailant. Do not seal yourself inside a shell without reason.'**

Yagura freezes, and his fists clench.

'Without reason?' he thinks, his thoughts fraught with a fear bordering on madness, 'I am surrounded by enemies! Anybody could attack me at any moment! And, without me, Kirigakure will fall into obscurity. I cannot allow that to happen.'

When Isobu's voice rings out again inside his mind, it is tinged with a bit of exasperation.

'**And why, exactly, would someone be attacking you? You are a strong ruler, who has led his people to strength after strength. You are ringed with the most powerful guards in the land. Who exactly do you consider to be a threat?'**

'Those who wield Kekkai Genkai. If they decided to rise up against me, I would be helpless before them.'

'**Then do not anger them, fool! If you do not wish rebellion, do not invite it through your actions!'**

Suddenly a dry, whispering voice makes itself heard in Yagura's mind. Its tone seems to promise untold benefits if one merely listened to its advice.

'_There is...another way, Mizukage-sama.'_

Yagura's eyes widen, and his body tenses up. His left hand extends and begins signing to his guards.

*Outside the office*

The ANBU whose job it was to guard the Mizukage that day is exceptionally bored. In his mind, guarding the Mizukage is even worse than gate guarding. At least gate guarding means you get to see new faces every so often. However, as any experienced ninja knows, boredom kills. Suddenly, he glances up to see the Mizukage signing something. His eyes widen.

'Two fingers...Genjutsu!'

He jumps to his feet, only to feel strangely faint. It almost feels as though his chakra has been drained. Suddenly, he feels a series of sharp pains to his spine and the warm flow of blood down his back. He slides to the ground, his last expression of confusion and alarm now eternally engraved on his face. A few seconds later, Kisame Hoshigaki steps into the room and recovers Samehada from the dead man's body. He barely gives the body a second glance before taking up a post outside the door.

*Inside the office*

Yagura waits, but no guards come bursting in. The dry voice in his mind chuckles.

'_Yagura-sama, I am no hostile force which you must fight. I am here to help you rule with strength and prosperity.'_

Isobu laughs, and the sound booms out through Yagura's mind.

'**Foolish mortal, what makes you think my vessel will listen to you?'**

'Wait, Isobu. We should hear him out. There is no harm in listening to advice.'

'_Thank you, Yagura-sama. Now, as I was saying, there is a third option. Rather than living in fear of the bloodlines or pacifying them, why not attack them?'_

'That is an...intriguing idea. However, it would severely weaken our forces.'

'_Then perhaps choose some bloodline users to preserve and destroy the rest? Then you would eliminate all threats to your rule.'_

Yagura tilted his head to the side briefly, thinking.

'That could work. However, I'm uncertain how other villages would react to an action that drastic.'

'_The only village which would fight us for something of this nature is Konoha. Those soft leaf worshipers...actually, I see a way to solve our problems.'_

Yagura's eyes widened.

'Oh? Do tell.'

'_We can offer them a trade. You wish to get rid of the Rokubi no Kenjuu, yes? So send it to them. Perhaps, in exchange for a bloodline user. One of the shadow wielders, they could prove useful.'_

'That is quite an idea. I shall send a message to Konoha post haste.'

Yagura stands and begins to pen a letter to the Third Hokage. As he does so, the strange dry voice fades out from his mind. However, just at the edge of his and Isobu's hearing, something remains...

*10 days later, Hokage's office*

Hiruzen Sarutobi sits at his desk, concern evident on his face. Shikaku Nara is at the other end of the table, as his normally bored eyes water slightly.

"Shikaku, you know I would not normally ask this of you. However, you know the great benefits which another Jinchuuriki could bring to the village. If I had any other choice which did not lose us this, I would take it."

Shikaku nods.

"I understand, Hokage-sama. I have ordered many into battle before, many of which have had to sacrifice their lives. My son will just be another name on that list...troublesome."

The Hokage almost looks affronted.

"Now, Shikaku, you don't know he's going to die. He's exceptionally valuable to them. He'll be completely safe."

"With all due respect, Hiruzen, ninja don't really do completely safe."

Both he and Sarutobi share a companionable, sad chuckle at that line. After that, Shikaku stands up and leaves.

*5 days later*

Two groups of ANBU meet in an abandoned village in between Konoha and Kirigakure. With practiced formality, each group hands a bassinet containing a child and a few scrolls to the other. Neither group knows precisely why this mission is so important, but they don't particularly care. All they know is that they are receiving A rank pay. And so, the future of the shinobi world changes.

A/N: Well, here's a prologue for a story which badly, badly needed one. The real first chapter should be back up soon, I just need to rewrite some scenes.


	2. Awakenings

Chapter 1: Awakenings:

*10 years later*

A sharp alarm snaps me out of my sleep, and I rise, bleary eyed, from my bed. I turn towards the person sleeping soundly in the bed next to mine. "Get up, Naruto. You have about 5 minutes before I just let you be late to the most important event in your shinobi career til the chunin exams."

"Don't you dare, Yoru," he sleepily responds, "You might be better at ninjutsu than me, but I can still wipe the ground with your face when I need to."

"Rightt. Tell me, how did it feel to beat up those clones?"

"That was one time!"

"Which lasted 6 hours, and you kept thinking you had caught me."

"I'll beat you eventually, dattebayo. Who knows? Maybe I'll pass today and you won't?"

I laugh. "Seriously, Naruto, I thought you were awake. Stop dreaming."

Our banter concluded, we both head down to the kitchen. Even after 10 years with him, I still can't believe how much food Naruto eats. Thankfully, he finishes breakfast within half an hour. Our morning preparations complete, we both head to the academy.

As we pass near to the door, Shino appears next to me;we have become quite close over the past few years. I turn to him.

"So, what are your expectations for the test?"

"This is a test of our skills as shinobi, and therefore unpredictable. To make judgements without adequate evidence is illogical."

"And is there not evidence in the skills we have been taught?"

He nods, expression still unreadable.

All three of us head into the testing room. I easily race through the written and ninjutsu portions of the exam, while Naruto struggles. However, the opposite happens during the taijutsu portion of the exam-I barely manage to defeat my opponent, while Naruto wins in something like 3.5 seconds. After the exams, I walk out of the testing room proudly sporting my new genin headband, only to see Naruto in tears, with no headband of his own. When I try to approach him, he waves me off, claiming that he has found a way to solve the problem, and that Mizuki will let him test again. This...is odd, to say the least; I've never heard of a student being allowed to retest. We both head back to the apartment, and, after a few hours, I forget about Naruto's words.

*Six hours later*

I am awoken from my sleep by an odd thump. After I pull myself out of bed, I realize 2 things:The bed next to me is empty, and the window is open. I race out the open window, following Naruto's tracks. After passing by the Hokage Tower, I realize that he is heading straight for the border forests of Konoha, and increase my speed.

'Naruto, what on earth have you done?'

As I speed into the forests, I feel chakra being released into the air around me, and increase my pace. I finally pull into a clearing, only to see Naruto standing in the center, reading a scroll. I call to him, extremely confused.

"Naruto, why are you here? What is that scroll?"

"Relax, Yoru! It's part of my updated genin exam: I need to steal the scroll and learn a jutsu from it. Here, I can give it to you-I've already learned a technique from it, and it's amazing!"

Still confused, I take the scroll. Immediately, I realize that this scroll is full of high-level techniques, far beyond genin or even chunin abilities, for the most part. A few techniques catch my eye, so I sit down, and begin reading.

"Shiringurinku: This high level fuuinjutsu technique relies on a modified version of the array for explosive tags. This sealing array can be used to store a technique for future remote activation, or even chakra-less activation if the right surrounding seals are used. Any chakra-based technique can be sealed within the array, but only chakra-based effects will be replicated. While the array requires very little chakra to activate, the technique placed in the array will absorb approximately 10 times as much chakra as normal while being placed.

Ishiki no shīru: This technique is exceptionally dangerous, and has thus been classified a Kinjutsu. Use at your own risk. A master level fuuinjutsu technique, this allows someone to transfer a consciousness from their body to another body, typically a clone, and back again. The clone will then gain a chakra system and the owner's abilities,but keep its own physical properties. However, if the clone dies, the consciousness will immediately be pulled back into the owner's body, and if that body is inaccessible or out of a given range, the owner will die. The owner's body will be unresponsive unless another consciousness inhabits it during the time the technique is active. Use of this technique on other ninja is not recommended, as, unlike Yamanaka techniques, it is not optimized to control hostile chakra systems.

Byogen-tai: This technique is exceptionally dangerous, and has thus been classified a Kinjutsu. Use at your own risk. This single seal will infect the chakra system it is placed on, jumping from tenketsu to tenketsu whenever chakra is expelled. Upon a given handseal which is hardcoded into a specific pathogen, the seal will either drain or completely shut down the tenketsu it infects. CAUTION: unless properly controlled, this seal will infect without limit. If it infects the tenketsu of the caster enough to control its own commands, it will most likely kill everyone in range of it. Be exceptionally careful when using."

After the sealing techniques, I came to an unusual section of the scroll. While it seemed to have no direct reference to me, and was prefaced by a warning that only the 'weapon of Kiri' would be able to use the powers depicted there, they still interested me.

"Kokuyōseki: The elemental ability of the Rokubi no Kenjuu. A combination of earth, water, and fire, obsidian is a hard but brittle stone which can be used to make weaponry. It has three major special properties: it bends light, allowing for interesting illusionary techniques, it can be sharpened to a monomolecular blade, and it shatters, similar to glass.

Kokoro uchikudaku: The second, fabled power of the beast. Not much is known about this ability, but it seems to provide exceptional speed and strategic ability to the jinchuriiki of the Six-Tailed wolf."

Just as I finished reading, Mizuki hurtled into view, an evil grin on his face.

"Ah, Naruto, you were so kind as to bring the other demon with you. Guess I get to go hunting for both of you animals tonight."

My eyes widen, as do Naruto's. "Demons, Mizuki? What are you talking about?"

He smirks as he responds. "Why, that is who you are, of course. Naruto holds the Kyuubi, it was sealed into him by the 4th hokage. And you, the Six-Tails, were a gift from Kirigakure. And, now, the village council is going to see that accepting the gift was a mistake. They'll hear the truth as I tell it: I tried to stop you traitors from getting the scroll to Kirigakure, but I was too late. I killed Naruto, but you got away."

My expression sets, and my eyes narrow. Naruto slumps, but then straightens, as he retorts. "You'll have to kill me first, Mizuki. And that might not be as easy as you'd think."

Mizuki laughs, and pulls a fuuma shuriken from his back, launching it at Naruto. It hits him, directly in the chest. Naruto slumps over as blood pours from his mouth.

As I look at Naruto's body on the ground, time seems to slow and fracture around this moment. Weak points become clear to me as reality cracks like a shattering mirror.

'What on earth is this?!'

As my thoughts become more and more confused, a voice from my mind suddenly responds.

'**This is my gift to you, human. This is my protection. Destroy he who attacks your packmate.** **Let your eyes be true seeing, and your hands be blades.**'

As I return to reality, I notice something: my hands are coated in a black substance, which sharpens to a near invisible point at the end. I concentrate on the substance briefly, and it solidifies into gauntlets, tipped with wickedly sharp wrist razors.

"So, Mizuki, you wanted a hunt? Let's see how this goes."

I dive towards him, instinctively ducking the kunai I know he's thrown; his eyes widen as I avoid it and get up, now only a few feet from him. As I make my first strike, he raises his arms, clearly intending to block my blow. I quickly reorient the obsidian blades to face his elbows, shearing through them. As he falls backwards, blood spurting from the stumps where his arms used to be, I press the advantage, launching myself towards him. Just as my blade slides into his skull, he vanishes in a puff of smoke, replaced by a log. Sometimes I really, really hate Kawarimi. Before I can contemplate this more, I feel the sharp and cold press of a blade at my brain stem.

"But...how? You have no arms?"

"That is no obstacle to a true shinobi. Die."

As I feel the blade press further, I hear a series of thumps and the blade vanishes. I turn to see a heap of Narutos, standing atop a rapidly dying Mizuki. My eyes widen and I grin.

"How did you pull that one off? You couldn't perform a regular clone to save your life in the academy!"

"Shadow clones, Yoru. Both awesome and chakra intensive. Now, what on earth was that attack you used? You took his arms off!"

"I think I'll call it...Eakatta. The ultimate in bladed assaults. Even better, I am quite literally the only living person who can use it."

We both return from the forest, carrying Mizuki between us. As we enter the gates of the village, we are accosted by the Hokage and Inoichi Yamanaka. The Hokage glances briefly at my wrists and nods, before taking the scroll of forbidden seals from Naruto.

"Naruto, would you mind telling me why you had this?"

Naruto freezes for a second, before rallying.

"It was Mizuki-sensei! He told me to take the scroll for my graduation exam! After he found me with it, he threatened to kill both Yoru and I! He called us demons!"

I step forward.

"We will submit to interrogation tests if you require it. He speaks the truth."

The Hokage thinks for a few seconds, before shaking his head.

"Given how willing you were to submit, I do not believe those will be necessary. And, in fact, given your extraordinary actions in this regard, I believe there is a wrong I must right."

Both Naruto and I stand there, confused, as the Hokage steps forward and kneels down. Suddenly, to our surprise, he removes his headband, placing it on Naruto's head.

"In certain cases, I have the right to override the decisions of the Academy with regards to promotion. I feel this is one of those cases. Naruto Uzumaki, I congratulate you on having reached the rank of genin."

Naruto stands stock still for a few seconds, before breaking down and profusely thanking the Hokage, who accepts the gratitude with a kind, grandfatherly smile. After Naruto finishes, the Hokage turns and begins to walk away. As he leaves, he chidingly reminds us that we do, in fact, have to be up on time for the genin team assignments the next day, and so we return to the apartment and head to sleep.

A/N: Well, here's the actual first chapter, rewritten to accommodate for story changes. I'm unsure how often I'll be updating this, but probably not extremely often.

Please review!


	3. Assignment

Chapter 2: Assignment

*The next day*

I wake up the next morning to see Naruto standing over me, shaking my shoulders. My eyes widen.

"Seriously, Naruto?" I ask incredulously, "You've never woken up before me. I've lived with you for 10 years and this has literally never happened before."

He shrugs.

"I didn't want to risk missing genin assignments. This is my first step to Hokage! Dattebayo!"

I smile tiredly and heave myself out of bed before quickly packing up assorted materials. As I do so, I am suddenly conscious of a presence in the back of my mind. It seems to be watching my actions. As if it senses me becoming conscious of it, the presence retreats, and I hear a dark voice in my mind.

'**Oh, don't act so surprised, mortal. You weren't expecting me to appear only once, were you?'**

I freeze briefly before responding.

'I must admit, that possibility...did cross my mind." If it is possible to think sheepishly, I was doing so at that moment.

'**Well, I have no plans for doing so. Especially not now that I've granted you my gifts. That would be far, far too boring.' **The voice trails off into chuckles before becoming silent.

I return to reality only to see Naruto standing in front of me, a concerned look on his face. As my perception returns, I hear the words coming from his mouth.

"...seriously, Yoru, what's going on? Why aren't you responding?"

I wave him off.

"Everything's fine. I was just having a little...chat with my tailed friend."

Strangely, this fails to reassure him.

"Yoru, talking to demonic beings made of energy feels like a really bad idea. And I'm saying that."

"Nah, it wasn't trying to corrupt me. It just said something about wanting to stay in my mind out of boredom. It actually sounded surprisingly human."

"FIne. Just...be careful, alright? I don't want my rival to be sidelined by something as simple as demonically-caused insanity!"

"Oh, just give up," I scoff, "You aren't going to win."

He laughs in response, and we head out.

*Timeskip*

Naruto and I, along with the remaining unassigned students, sit in front of Iruka-sensei waiting for team assignments. None of the first six teams contained any people we knew. After consulting briefly with his partners, Iruka stands up to assign team 7.

"Team 7 will be composed of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. your Jounin-sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. "

Naruto stands up and runs to the exit. Sakura follows soon after, glancing starry-eyed back at Sasuke every so often. A few seconds later, Sasuke stands up, face still perpetually locked in brooding unconcern for his surroundings. That team dynamic was one I was very glad to be avoiding. On the other hand, the team looked to be pretty well balanced: Naruto as the close range fighter, Sasuke as mid to long range combat, and Sakura with chakra control good enough to specialize into assorted areas.

After they leave, Iruka stands up again.

"Team 8 will be composed of Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Your Jounin-sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi."

All three of the named students stand and leave the room. That team seemed likely to specialize in tracking, although both Kiba and Hinata could also serve as heavy hitters if need be.

Once those three leave, Iruka stands up yet again.

"Team 10 will be composed of Chouji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Yoru Okami. Your Jounin-sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."

I stand up and leave the room, thinking about the likely specialization areas of the team on which I was placed. Ino will likely be an asset for IT type missions, as well as a useful tool for ambushes and battlefield control. Chouji is more of a heavy hitter type, but his attacks also have the advantage of shock value. Meanwhile, I...well, before last night I wouldn't have known where to classify myself. However, with the specialties granted to me by Kokuyoseki, stealth was the obvious place to start. As I stand, lost in thought, a grizzled man with a cigarette sticking out of his mouth walks up to me.

"Are you Yoru Okami?" he asked, voice simultaneously gruff and with an undertone of calmness.

"I am. I assume you are Asuma Sarutobi?"

He nods.

"Nice to meet you. So, are we to begin training now?"

He smirks.

"About that...I should wait until the rest of the team gets here before telling you."

I nod, and we stand there as Ino and Chouji walk up to us. Once they get relatively close, I turn back to Asuma.

"So, what was it you wanted to tell us?"

"There's another test you have to pass. And, judging by the amount of time left in the day, we need to do it now."

Our eyes widen. After a few seconds, Ino speaks up.

"What do you mean, another test? We've already passed, so we should be genin now!"

"It isn't that simple," Asuma responds, "That test only proved you had skills in a school environment. This tests your skills on the field of battle. Here's what is going to happen: in 60 minutes, I will be on training ground 16. I will have with me two bells. Whoever can get those bells from me will continue as a genin. Anyone who cannot will return to the academy."

"So that means that at least one of us will be sent back..." I trail off. Something about this whole situation feels wrong.

Asuma nods and vanishes, leaving us in silence.

A few seconds later, Ino breaks that silence.

"I can't go back to the academy! My family would never forgive me for that kind of failure!" she says, her voice bordering on shriek.

"If...if you need me to, I will give up a bell," Chouji responds, "My family might be annoyed, b-but I think my father will understand."

"Wait..." I cut in, "Something about this feels off. Look, do either you know of any two person genin teams besides those where members died? Any at all? In any of the shinobi villages?"

Both of them shake their heads.

"Don't you think that we would have if stuff like this was allowed? It seems a good deal more likely that this is also a test of how we respond to adversity."

"Even if that's true, we still need to get the bells! How are we going to beat a jounin!" Ino responded.

"Now, that's where I need your help. So, what are your specific skills?"

*60 minutes later, after a long planning dialogue and assorted skill testing/evaluation*

All three of us wait at the training ground, each in our specified positions. Suddenly, Ino turns to me and makes the previously agreed upon hand sign for hostile chakra approach. I stand up and begin forming a series of quick hand seals, spawning a few bunshin around me. A few seconds later, each bunshin contains a obsidian kunai in each limb which is hidden by the illusion.

"Kokuyōseki gijutsu: Burēdo no te(Obsidian technique: Hands of blades) complete."

A few seconds later, Asuma appears at the entrance to the training ground, and I wave to him.

"Hello, Asuma-sensei! I'll be your opening act for today. I'd like you to meet my friends." I motion, and the clones charge at him. He smirks, and sticks his hand into the first as it approaches, dispelling it.

"You'll have to do better than that, Yoru. I could see those clones from across the field."

"Do better, you say?" I respond, "Why, certainly! How's this?"

I move my hand slightly, and the kunai from the clone zoom to the front and back of his throat.

"So, are you going to give us the bells, or is this going to get messy?"

His smile widens, before the kunai are repelled from him by a sudden blast of wind, giving him time to draw two blades of his own. With that, the fight begins in earnest. He rapidly dispels all of my clones, leaving him fighting against 8 obsidian kunai which I control from a distance. As I send one in to try to cut off the bells only to have it deflected yet again, part of my mind dispassionately reflects on how strange it is to fight from 8 simultaneous positions. However, that thought is soon gone, replaced by more tactical observation: Asuma has become accustomed to these strikes. Time to kick it up a notch. I briefly concentrate, and obsidian shuriken begin forming from the air and launching themselves at Asuma. He looks up and dodges the first few. I steadily increase the frequency at which they are being formed and launched until finally there is only one opening left: to move towards a nearby stand of trees. He immediately leaps in the direction, and I smirk. This is going exactly according to plan. As he reached the trees, I hear Chouji shout out as his family technique activates and a rapidly expanding arm smashes through the forest, pinning Asuma in between the ever expanding limb and the rapidly approaching shuriken. As he looks around, Ino steps out from behind one of the remaining trees and places her hands in the starting position for Shintenshin no Jutsu.

"Surrender, Asuma-sensei! Otherwise I'll just have to see how much mischief I can get into with your body."

After a few seconds of deliberation, his hands raise, and he smiles.

"I must say, that was rather impressive. You pass."

My shoulders slump in relaxation.

"Thanks."

"However, I do have one question for you: Yoru, what was your plan assuming I decided to just take the hits of one of the shuriken rather than going for the opening?"

I smirk and fire a shuriken off at a nearby tree. It pierces straight through that tree. And the next 5.

"That would have made the fight rather shorter. Monomolecular blades are rather useful."

"I'll keep that in mind," he responds, "Well, our next training meeting will be tomorrow, at 8 am in training ground 22. See you then."

He vanishes in a blur of speed. A few seconds later, Ino and Chouji walk up to me, Chouji still rubbing his arm.

"How did you do that?!" Ino asks incredulously.

"Can't say, " I respond mischeviously, "it's probably an S ranked secret. Anyway, you guys pulled off your parts of the plan perfectly. Nicely done."

"It was your plan, Yoru. We just followed instructions." Chouji replies.

"No, don't shortchange yourselves. You were 66% of it. Anyway, the strategies we used today are probably going to be extremely useful in the future."

They both nod, and then Ino looks up at the sky and gasps.

"Wow, is it that late? I need to be heading back to the clan compound, see you tomorrow!"

"So do I." Chouji cuts in, and they both walk off. I return to my apartment, only to find Naruto on his bed looking stressed.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" I asked concernedly.

"Kakashi-sensei assigned up a second genin test! If we don;t pass we go back to the academy!" he responded.

"Oh, that,"I replied, "Just keep your wits about you and you should be fine."

He relaxed slightly at that, and we both settled in for another night.

A/N: Longest chapter for anything I've ever written, I think. Hopefully the fight scene was coherent and I didn't make anybody OOC.

Techniques created by yoru: Some will be named, some will not. I'll try to keep it consistent though.

Please review!


	4. Team

Chapter III: Team

At noon the next day, I and the rest of team 10 stood before the Hokage, eagerly awaiting our first mission. The training in the early morning had been uneventful, barring a few...slight incidents.

_*Flashback*_

Ino and I stood, each terrified, overlooking a massive crater. In the center of the crater, Asuma stood atop an unconscious Chouji. He looked up, caught our eyes, and shrugged.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call him fat! It just slipped out!"

_*End Flashback*_

However, now everyone on the team was yearning for a mission. The Hokage stepped forward, three scrolls in his hands, and the other genin and I leaned forward expectantly. Asuma, meanwhile, seemed to be desperately trying to hold back some emotion. That was strange, but it could certainly wait until after we had received our task.

"So, here are your three options," the Hokage began, " You can...paint fences, babysit children, or recover Tora, the Daimyo's wife's cat. Which do you choose?"

The other genin and I sat back silently, dumbfounded. This was what passed for a mission? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Asuma break out into uncontrollable laughter. He was clearly expecting this. While I could appreciate the humor, I would have to make him pay in the next training session. While I thought, Ino irately responded to the offer.

"These are our missions?! A bunch of glorified chores!"

The Hokage nodded, a smile on his face.

"Yes, " he responded, "and, don't worry, your pay will fully compensate you for your immense effort."

It took a very, very large amount of self control to hold back the snarl in my throat. Thankfully, judging from the tirade she was currently launching into, Ino had no such restrictions. Meanwhile, Chouji was just sitting and watching the unfolding chaos. However, once I thought about the missions some more, I realized how they could be useful. I quickly motioned to Ino to stop talking briefly.

"Excuse me," I asked innocently, "Are we allowed to use jutsu on these missions?"

The Hokage regarded me briefly before responding.

"Not many do, given their ease, but there's nothing forbidding it."

"My thanks." I nodded, and turned to Ino.

"I know these missions seem really pointless-"

Ino cut me off.

"Seem? More than that!"

"As I was saying," I continued exasperatedly, "They seem pointless, and indeed are in their current form. However, we can use them to practice techniques. They could form a useful addition to our training."

Ino reluctantly nodded.

"I guess I see your point."

I turned back to the Hokage.

"Could we get the fence painting mission?"

*1 month later*

Slowly, Ino, Chouji and I advanced on Tora, taking care to make no noise. Oddly enough, the cat's sensitive ears made for good stealth training, trying to creep up behind the cat as closely as possible without it noticing. However, that wasn't what we were practicing today. No, today was a day for quick strikes and captures. After 2 weeks of daily Tora practice, Ino had gotten pretty quick with Shintenshin, so this capture was going to be knockout poison based. Some work we had done in training yesterday gave me the perfect way to deliver the drugs to the cat. Now all we needed to do was implement that plan.

I turned to Ino and Chouji, and spoke in the loudest whisper which wouldn't carry over the distance. Yet another skill we had learned from training on the Tora capture mission.

"Move on my mark. Remember, Chouji, you are blocking exits. Ino, only throw a senbon or two once the cat's going for me."

They nodded, and I motioned for them to take up positions before stepping out into the open. Tora caught sight of me, and hissed, backing away. Assuming her actions remained relatively constant, she would begin to run in 5 seconds. And I couldn't allow that to happen. I quickly formed an obsidian shuriken with a seal on it and concentrated my chakra into it before launching it. As the shuriken hummed through the air, Tora spat, turned, and ran. However, as she ran, the shuriken overtook her, and I quickly made the monkey seal.

"Chiratsuki burēdo(flickering blade)."

The Shiringurinku seal I had placed on the shuriken lit up, activating the Kawarimi I had placed in it. Suddenly, I was standing right behind Tora, and the shuriken was flying towards her from the other side. Tora froze for a second, considering her options, before attacking me. I felt her claws hit skin for a fraction of a second before Ino's senbon hit it in the spine, and it fell limp. I smirked, and turned in a seemingly random direction.

"Asuma? What's our time?"

After a few seconds, our sensei stepped out from behind a corner.

"Counting reconnaissance, 185 seconds. 10 faster than last time, and 5 faster than Kakashi's team's record. Well done. You still owe me the secret to how you find me so easily."

"We beat Forehead's team!" Ino whooped, "Success!"

I smiled.

"Now, Asuma, you wouldn't be able to use that method anyway. Meanwhile, are we ready to finally receive a C rank?"

He thought to himself for a few seconds before nodding.

"Yes, I believe you are. So, let us go to the Hokage's office."

*A few minutes later, in the Tower*

"A C Rank? Yes, I believe I have the very thing." The Hokage turned around, rummaging through the scrolls behind his desk until he came to one marked with the seal of a nation I had never seen before.

"This mission came in from a gold mine in Kawa No Kuni. The Katabami mine, I believe. They are having a little bit of a bandit problem and requested the help of a shinobi of Konoha. Given the lack of shinobi among the bandits, I'm sure you'll be able to deal with it."

Asuma nodded and took the scroll, before turning to us.

"I'll expect all of you at the gates of Konoha in 3 hours. Pack full gear, as Kawa's more than a few days away."

We nodded and left. Once I got back to the apartment, I rapidly threw together anything that might prove useful, including the handful of special sealing tags I had managed to make in the month we had been training. While most of them were just variants of the Shiringurinku seal, one tag did have the byogen-tai seal on it. However, I had left a few crucial markings off to ensure that it wasn't activated accidentally. After packing up, I left a quick note on Naruto's bed explaining where I was going. Once I was satisfied, I met the rest of Team 10 at the gate, and we set off.

*3 days later, middle of Kawa no Kuni: Distance to Katabami mine: less than a day*

Chouji stood, looking into the distance, waiting out his turn in watch. While absolutely nothing had happened over the past 3 days of travel, Asuma still insisted on keeping close watch over our surroundings. And, as Chouji watched, the wisdom of that insistence was quickly shown. A few seconds later, Chouji turned back to us, eyes wide.

"I see movement! Looks like a large party, coming this way."

The remainder of the team nodded, and we all took combat ready stances. I briefly paused and exhaled, creating and spreading an obscene amount of obsidian powder into the air around me. Meanwhile, Ino readied a few senbon and Asuma moved his hands slightly closer to his trench knives. The approaching strangers gradually resolved into view: there were about 10 of them, 5 on horseback. All of them were carrying weapons. As they caught sight of us, they slowed to a stop, and the leader turned to the ones at the back.

"Oh, look at what we've got here! A nice group of Konoha nin out on a trip! It would really be a shame if we were to interrupt that trip, wouldn't it..."

The other men laughed. Asuma stepped forward, a conciliatory expression on his face.

"We want no trouble. We are merely passing through."

The leader grinned predatorily.

"Well, then, how much would you be willing to pay to keep yourself from getting into trouble?"

I gritted my teeth. So the game was extortion, then. Well, Asuma had brought money to prepare for just such a scenario, and the client would hopefully reimburse us. However, something like this could go sour quickly.

"I've got about 8000 ryo," Asuma replied, "Just let us through to Katabami and it is yours."

The leader's eyes widened and he motioned to his men.

"Katabami! Well, I'm afraid we can't let you through so easily. Just business, you understand."

Asuma nodded, before suddenly flicking out one of his knives. It clanged off of a gauntlet which seemed to have materialized on the arm of the leader.

"Impressive reflexes," Asuma said calmly, "Might I know who I am fighting?"

"Naro," the leader responded, "and don't bother trying to find me in a bingo book. I've remained stealthy enough to avoid attention. You, on the other hand, have not."

Suddenly, the leader flickered only to reappear a few steps away. And with that, his men charged. Quickly, I summoned a sphere of obsidian around myself and modified its refractive index until it bent light around itself from the front and back while leaving the side open. This technique had the upside of leaving me invisible from the front, but the downside of leaving me blind. However, the small obsidian shards which I had been surreptitiously placing onto the men for the past few minutes certainly mitigated that. While I now didn't have total knowledge of their positions, I did know precisely where their vitals were at all times. And that was all I needed. I quickly began launching targeted shuriken at the locations of the shards, every so often being rewarded with a groan or a shriek for my trouble. After 3 hits, I dropped the technique to allow for greater visibility. To my left, Ino stood facing off against 2 of the men, throwing a senbon every now and then to keep their eyes on her, rather than the log behind them. As I watched their fight, that log vanished, replaced by a grinning Chouji. With a shout and a handseal, he grew himself to about 5 times his size and smashed into them, knocking them out. I took advantage of the noise to activate one of the shuriken with flickering blade seals which I had thrown earlier, appearing behind the backs of the other 4 men. They whirled to face me.

"Congratulations on turning to face the larger and more salient threat!" I bowed mockingly, "But there's a question you should be asking yourselves: Where'd that shuriken go?"

I flicked my wrists, and the shuriken hummed out from behind them, slicing through the top layer of skin on each of their throats.

"The next one's a killshot," I informed them brightly, "I believe this is the time where you run."

And, lo and behold, they did. I turned to find that Asuma had also subdued his opponent. After disabling and binding Naro and sending off a message to Konoha informing them of the capture , he turned to us.

"Congratulations on surviving your first real battle! Now, the next one's probably going to be harder, but its a start. Any questions?"

Chouji, Ino and I looked at each other, grinning, but remained silent. Asuma nodded, and we continued on to the village. Once we got there, we headed straight for the house marked in our mission scroll. Asuma knocked on the door, and a black haired man looking to be about 30 opened the door hurriedly before rushing us in. Once we reached the inside, he hurriedly locked the door and closed the shades before turning to us.

"Are you the team from Konoha?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes." Asuma responded.

"Look, I'm really, really sorry about this. The mission scroll...wasn't entirely accurate."

A/N: And so the first mission begins. This mission is mostly taken from the Anime arc curry of life, but there are things changed. Obviously.

Please review!


	5. Enemy

Chapter IV: Enemy:

Asuma's knives leapt from their sheaths almost as though they were possessed. In a blur of motion, one was at the villager's throat. In that moment, I caught sight of privacy seals on the windows. What the hell had we walked into?

"What do you mean by 'not entirely accurate'?" I could feel the killing intent coming off of him from across the room.

"I'm sorry!" The villager was sweating, his words spilling out quickly. "I needed to make sure Raiga didn't get suspicious. I swear, if you help us, we'll pay you whatever you want!"

Asuma's eyes widened.

"Raiga. Raiga Kurosuki. The swordsman of the mist Raiga Kurosuki. You wanted us to help deal with _him._"

The villager froze before breaking down in tears. Once he had composed himself, he turned back to Asuma.

"Perhaps it's best-it's best if I start over from the beginning. A few years ago, we were a relatively prosperous town. Our mine had just started producing ore on a reliable basis. Of course, that kind of prosperity brings bandits, and they came in droves. We were able to hold them off for a while, but then they started bringing ninja and a few of us...were killed. We decided to hire some mercenaries to defend us, I mean, it takes a ninja to defeat a ninja, right. And then Raiga came along about a year ago. He didn't ask for money, which we should have all found a little suspicious, sure, but he'd just saved that kid so the village accepted him. His takeover was...slow, at first. He started advising our council on the best ways to fight off the bandit forces, and it was working. Eventually, he started pushing laws on us. We were reluctant to accept them, and people started acting up. Then, my son Gekko...he..."

The villager slumped over, tears leaking from his eyes like water from a faucet. Asuma put a hand on the villager's shoulder companionably and motioned to us to watch the doors. For good reason, too, if I was right about where the villager was going, we'd waltzed right into a good old fashioned military dictatorship. The enforcers could be on our backs at any moment. While I slowly fashioned obsidian mirrors and inched them around the door and Ino and Chouji took up positions by nearby windows, the villager found the strength to continue.

"Gekko was always a bit of a troublemaker. He just stayed out after curfew to get us some food and medicines because my wife was feeling ill. The next day, Raiga called us to a town funeral. When we got there, he started speaking about Gekko's life, eulogizing him, and my wife and I broke down crying. But then, right in the middle of his speech, we started to hear something. There was a scratching noise coming from the ground near him. It got louder for a few seconds, then stopped entirely. That's when I realized that the cold hearted bastard was burying my son alive while mourning him. My wife, Aoi, she figured it out too, and she lunged for the ground and started digging. One of his lackeys stepped forward and told her to stop. She spat on him, and he stabbed her. She bled out in front of the whole town. I knew I couldn't let this go on any longer, so I've scrimped and saved enough to pay for an A rank mission. That's what I've hired you for. I don't care what it takes, I want Raiga and his damn 'Family' gone."

After the villager finished, Asuma tilted his head for a second.

"You done?"

The villager nodded.

"Good. Now, sir, I'd like to enlighten you about a few basic ninja truths, ok?"

The villager nodded, confusion inherent in his face.

"See, mission rankings aren't just a matter of cost. They also determine who we send on missions. You see these kids near the door? Those are _twelve year olds. _You are trying to send 3 fresh-out-of-training genin to their deaths. So, with whatever respect is due someone who tries to pull something that boneheaded, we are going to decide whether to take your mission again, and nobody's coming to help you if we decline. Next time, don't lie to your only hopes."

The villager smiled through his tears.

"I thought you'd say something like that. You aren't going to be leaving that easily. Raiga's Family come here on patrol every hour. If you don't want to be brought before him anyway..."

As he trailed off, I heard a knock at the door and refocused my mirrors on the party outside. I silently stepped into the shadows of a corner with the rest of my team while the villager opened the door. As a muscular man leaned inside, I motioned to Ino and Chouji, hands forming a few quick signs. Hopefully Asuma would realize what we were doing.

'1 more outside. I'll take him, Ino take this one, Chouji as reinforcement. Move on my mark.'

They nodded, and I slowly reformed my mirrors into thin strings while manifesting a refractive obsidian wall around the front door. To anyone outside, it would look like the man had vanished into thin air. A few seconds later, the strings were positioned invisibly at the outside man's throat and waist. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ino readying a senbon. Once she stopped moving, my hand jerked down. The threads sliced the man outside into 3 pieces. Her wrist jerked forward and the senbon whizzed through the air, burying itself in the inside man's throat. His eyes widened before he collapsed.

The villager turned around, his eyes widening.

"What did you just do?! Everybody's going to see that you killed those men!"

I chuckled while using some obsidian to slide the body inside the house.

"A) We're ninja and you hired us to deal with the problem. We've been going through emotional detachment training for years. B) nobody will see anything, courtesy of a little technique I like to call Boidoshīru(Void Seal). For all any witnesses know, those men vanished the moment they neared the house."

Asuma checked out the window before turning towards us.

"Picture perfect takedown, team 10. Now, onto business: I'm ok provisionally with you taking this mission, at least assuming that we really do have no other choice. There's one condition: if we do end up fighting Raiga, you get behind me. And stay there."

We nodded and he turned back to the villager.

"Looks like you're lucky. So, what tactical data can you give us about Raiga?"

The man tilted his head for a few seconds, thinking.

"There...isn't much. He fights with these two swords, and they always have flickering blue lights around them, some ninja technique or something."

Asuma turned back to us.

"That's lightning chakra. Touching the swords will shock you severely. I should be able to deal with that though."

The villager's eyes widened.

"Right! I almost forgot to tell you! The kid he saved, the one I mentioned earlier, he carries that kid everywhere. And it's no normal child...nothing with eyes that glow red is a normal human being."

My eyes widened. That almost sounded like the Sharingan, but that wasn't possible. No Uchiha had survived the massacre beyond the two obvious exceptions, and none that possibly could have would be a child at this point. Judging by the expression on Asuma's face, he had the exact same thoughts.

"Did those red eyes have any black in them? Maybe something that looked like a comma?"

The villager thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, I'm sure I'd remember something like that."

We both relaxed. A few moments later, Ino chimed in.

"So? Can you tell us anything else? Or are we going to get started?"

"That's...that's all, I'm afraid. You'll find Raiga in the town square most days, and failing that he'll be in the council building to the north. I wish I could help you more, but I can't."

With that, he fell silent. Asuma turned towards us.

"Now, you know the situation. How do you plan to attack the target?"

I closed my eyes, thinking. We could go directly to Raiga and pretend to be gathering information for our original mission, but someone as unstable as the swordsmen were reputed to be would need evidence. Perhaps we could tell him about Naro? No, we didn't know whether he'd hired Naro. In that case, we still needed some piece of proof...

Chouji's uncertain voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"Is...is there any reason we can't pretend these men were killed by bandits?"

My eyes widened. That could work. That would get Raiga to follow us to any proposed bandit sites, for sure, if nothing else. However, there was one further wrinkle.

"Asuma," I asked, "Did you ever get confirmation from Konoha that they found Naro? Even a messenger hawk suggesting that they had received ours?"

"No..." He replied, surprised. "You're right, I should have by now."

A second later, I felt my obsidian wall around the door shatter. Naro stepped through with a wide grin on his face, followed by two more men.

"It's so good to see you again, Konoha friends! However, I fear I'll have to cut this engagement a little bit short." He motioned, and the two men behind him darted forward and grabbed Ino before we could react. One of them jabbed a syringe into her throat and she went limp.

"Consider this your warning, friends." His eyes were ice cold. "If you leave within 24 hours, we'll send her along after you. Otherwise, we'll see how much a Yamanaka sells for on the open market."

I could feel my blood chilling as the world seemed to fracture. Almost without my conscious decision, the obsidian reformed around the doors. Asuma caught sight of my tensing body and moved a step closer to Naro.

"Look, Naro, don't be hasty. There may well be a time for rash action, but this isn't it. We'll leave. You can even watch us go."

The obsidian thickened for a second before I realized the true point Asuma was trying to get across. I dropped the obsidian wall as my body temperature returned to normal. Naro turned around and walked out, followed by his goons and Ino's unconscious body. As they left, I silently launched a transparent flickering blade equipped shuriken, guiding it into Ino's hair before reshaping it to weave through her hair strands. After they got out of view, Asuma turned to us.

"So, now our mission has a timer. 24 hours to complete it or leave."

Chouji stepped forward, more confident than I'd seen him in a while.

"We aren't just going to let them kidnap our friend, Sensei."

I grinned and stepped forward.

"I agree. If we can get them to use Ino as a hostage, then they'll feel the consequences of their decisions soon enough."

"I gather you got the message," Asuma responded. "I was starting to get worried you'd missed it and I'd have to beat some subtlety into you. So, what's your plan?"

XxX

Kirigakure training ground no. 62: Code name: Ketsueki shitsugen(Blood moor)

3 Chunin dart forward, covering their approach with mist and targeted flashbang tags. As they near their target, 2 of them ready kunai. The last readies a raiton technique. A few moments later, one of them vanishes without a word. The other two turn, terrified. The enemy is among them. Suddenly, the mist blows away, leaving them in an empty room. A second later, a black form rises from the bog and both turn, firing their most powerful techniques rapidly. The black form vanishes, blurring into an insubstantial shadow. The second Chunin collapses suddenly. The last one looks in all directions, desperately trying to catch sight of their foe. Moments before he feels a kunai drag across his throat, he sees a black form flit into existence before him and hears a chill whisper.

"You should always fear the dark..."

A/N: I'm back to this, finally. And I have so, so many wonderful plans for it(I want to get to the chunin exams already, but I have some worldbuilding to do first). Also, Shikamaru is a great bad guy when he isn't lazy-smart, powerful, and absolutely terrifying.

Please review!


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